Bridging the Digital Divide |
Left to right, Drew McNaughton, CTO, Axia North America, Matt Crocker, President of Crocker Communications, Judith Dumont, MBI Director, Murray Sigler, President of Axia North America and Tim Scott, Vice President of Axia NGNetworks USA at the Broadband Technology Summit in Northampton on Saturday.
Working closely with municipal leaders and local broadband service providers, the MBI is continuing to advance the MassBroadband 123 project. This week there were three major events that highlighted the progress of MassBroadband 123,
the MBI's 1,338 mile Internet backbone network that will expand broadband access in western and north central Massachusetts communities. Broadband Provider Briefing The MBI met with 40 broadband service providers to discuss the MassBroadband 123 network and ways to extend broadband access in unserved and underserved communities. The MBI provided an update on recent developments regarding the project and introduced Axia NGNetworks USA (Axia), the network operator for the MassBroadband 123 network. Axia will provide wholesale services on the fiber-optic network to broadband service providers and maintain and refresh the network to ensure its operability and efficiency. "The MBI is excited to work with broadband service providers to move the MassBroadband 123 project forward and discuss last-mile broadband connectivity in the region," said MBI Director Judith Dumont. "Every last-mile technology requires a robust Internet backbone network, which the region will have when MassBroadband 123 is complete." The MassBroadband 123 network will be open access to allow any broadband provider to connect and offer its services, which will increase competition and affordability of options. Broadband Technology Summit The MBI and its outreach partner, WesternMA Connect, hosted a summit in Northampton to highlight broadband technologies that could be deployed in unserved and underserved areas using the MassBroadband 123 Internet backbone network. The summit included Axia, as well as broadband service providers and municipal leaders from communities in the project's service area. Approximately 140 people attended the summit. The event at the Hotel Northampton featured opening remarks by Don Dubendorf, the Chairman of WesternMA Connect and a member of the MBI Board of Directors, an update on the MassBroadband 123 project by MBI Director Judith Dumont and an introduction on Axia by Tim Scott, Vice President of Axia NGNetworks USA. The summit also included two panels, one of which was specifically designed to help communities understand broadband deployment technologies, including Fiber-To-The-Home, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), cable and wireless technologies. A second panel highlighted how the towns of Warwick and Shrewsbury developed their own last-mile broadband networks and plans by WiredWest to build a municipal Fiber-To-The-Home network. The summit provided an opportunity for community leaders to meet some of the service providers currently doing business in the region, as well as other service providers who are considering expanding into the service area. Agreement with the City of Springfield The MBI announced an important agreement with the City of Springfield to advance the MassBroadband 123 network and provide broadband infrastructure connections for approximately 150 schools, libraries, hospitals and public safety entities in Springfield. In addition, the MBI will utilize the city's existing infrastructure to connect the MassBroadband 123 fiber-optic network to the major Internet connection point in Springfield. This is one of the critical components necessary to link the entire 1,338 mile network to the Internet and expand broadband services to communities in western and north central Massachusetts. The MassBroadband 123 network includes 55 miles of recently installed fiber-optic cable along I-91 from the Vermont to Connecticut borders, a critical north-south axis for the network. The agreement permits the MBI to connect the I-91 portion of the MassBroadband 123 network to the Internet Point of Presence located at One Federal Street in Springfield, which serves as a major access point to the Internet. For more information on the MBI's broadband initiatives, to sign-up for email updates and to follow us on Twitter, please visit www.massbroadband.org.
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